Shloka 15
Adhyātma-nirdeśa
Definition of Adhyātma): Mahābhūtas, Indriyas, Guṇas, and the Witness (Kṣetrajña
बीजमात्र पुरा सृष्टं यदेतत् परिवर्तते । मृतामृता: प्रणश्यन्ति बीजाद् बीजं प्रवर्तते
bījamātraṃ purā sṛṣṭaṃ yad etat parivartate | mṛtāmṛtāḥ praṇaśyanti bījād bījaṃ pravartate ||
Am Anfang wurde allein das Prinzip des „Samens“ erschaffen; aus ihm dreht sich diese Welt weiter und erneuert sich. Die Sterbenden vergehen als einzelne Wesen; doch aus Samen geht immer wieder Samen hervor.
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes cyclical causality: individual beings perish, but the generative principle (bīja) persists, producing continuity through repeated origination. It highlights impermanence at the personal level alongside ongoing reproduction/renewal at the cosmic or natural level.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja presents a philosophical explanation of how the world continues: creation begins from a seed-like causal principle, and although living beings die, the chain of generation continues as seed gives rise to seed.